


Flight of the Courageous Spark

by GammaPrime



Series: TRANSFORMERS CHRONICLES [6]
Category: Transformers
Genre: Desperation, Journey, Synth, space travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28144362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GammaPrime/pseuds/GammaPrime
Summary: Almost 4 million years after the Ark's departure, the Autobots of Cybertron pin their hopes on the voyage of one small ship.
Series: TRANSFORMERS CHRONICLES [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060217
Kudos: 1
Collections: TRANSFORMERS CHRONICLES





	1. Launch

Eons ago, Cybertron was a majestic world and the center of a vast empire. Like all great civilizations, though, it eventually all but died, having endured a deadly plague, social unrest, and, finally, the rise of a brutal dictatorship that sent the once-great planet into civil war. By this time, that war had taken a heavy toll on the planet. Its once-abundant supply of Energon had dwindled so low as to prompt acts of desperation from both sides of the ongoing conflict. Furthermore, no new Protoforms had been forged since a Vanguard-Class Deep-Space Interceptor known as the Ark left for parts unknown.

"I'm sure we're all painfully aware of the current situation we face," began Ultra Magnus, former captain of the Cybertron Elite Guard and now leader of the resistance movement that had formed against the tyrannical regime that ruled the planet. These were the Autobots. "Some of us must journey off-world in search of either the Heart of Cybertron or Optimus Prime."

"There's only one remotely serviceable ship out our disposal, sir," commented a red femme as she shifted from a form analogous to a moped to her natural humanoid form. "It's gonna need some fixin'-up before we even think about launchin' though."

"Do what you must, Vespa," Magnus replied, placing a hand on the smaller bot's shoulder. "If anyone can get a ship off this planet, it's you. You're the best engineer we've got here."

"Thanks, Magnus. I will. The sooner somebot finds Prime or the Heart o' Cybertron, the better."

"What does it need, Vespa?" asked a teal and white mech.

"Well, Dashlane, it needs a new central computer core. I got that covered," Vespa answered, a hint of sadness and reluctance in her voice.

"Why so glum then? Isn't that a good thing?"

"It would be if this were any other Teletraan-class core."

"It's X, isn't it?"

"None other," she sighed. "This is far from the life I wanted fer him."

"At least he'll sort-of live again," Dashlane said with a small smile, trying his best to comfort his comrade, prompting another deep sigh from her.

"I wanted 'im to be able to choose 'is life."

"Maybe he'll get that chance again someday. We can only hope..."

As the two bots spoke, they slowly made their way to a decrepit hangar, where a mech decked in various shades of green worked feverishly to attach a cannon to a transport ship. Another mech with an identical body-type, but orange and maroon coloration, stood near the entrance, clutching a large automatic weapon, which he looked ready to start firing the moment he saw anything remotely resembling a Decepticon.

"Trigger finger twitchin' again, Tigertrack?" the green mech asked.

"Yeah, Snakeskin. I'm honestly surprised I haven't gotten to blast even a Scout-Class drone yet."

"It's a good thing the 'Cons haven't shown up yet, knowing how much Energon you waste with that blaster."

"She's a guzzler, yeah, but ol' Maverick here hasn't let me down since I salvaged her from that Heavy who almost slagged you."

"At least Vespa's attachment to that old Teletraan core makes a little more sense," Snakeskin muttered.

"I heard that, bro," Tigertrack somewhat growled, giving his twin a half-hearted glare.

"Some bots never change," Dashlane snarked. "It's an act of Primus that Tigertrack hasn't been blasted to scrap or turned into a Vehicon Heavy yet." He shuddered at the thought, flashing back to having seen another friend fall victim to the same fate.

"Don't worry, Dash," Snakeskin called out. "I'm not about to let my bro end up like Landmine."

While the three mechs bantered, Vespa busied herself installing her cherished Teletraan core into the ship's console. "I really wish I didn't have to do this to ya, X. I wanted so much more. I wanted you to choose....You deserved that. Slaggin' Decepticons!"

"Now you know why I'd be more than happy to blow that bucket off Megatron's ugly head," Tigertrack commented as he climbed aboard, cocking Maverick.

"Well, wherever we find Prime, we're likely to find Megatron, Tigertrack," Dashlane reasoned. "Hopefully, he won't be running around with the Heart of Cybertron inside his hull, thinking he's Primus or something."

Suddenly, a piercing, maniacal cackle could he heard just outside. "Ooh boy! Look what I found," Triggerhappy happily cried out before transforming and firing into the hangar, not really caring what he hit as long as it did some damage.

"Frag off, you loose screw!" Snakeskin growled before pulling out his rifle and shooting the Decepticon hooligan in the chest, knocking him back and leaving behind a smoking hole in his armor where his Decepticon badge once sat. 

"Hey! I was supposed to do that!" the goon complained, sounding like a spoiled child who just lost a game.

"Like you have the aim...or processing power...to do so," the green Autobot fired back as he re-positioned himself to avoid an incoming spray of Energon blasts from the crazed Decepticon gunner.

Tigertrack, meanwhile, simply charged at his opposite number, Maverick blazing as he did so. "Game's not so fun now, huh?" he cried out.

"What do you mean? It's just starting!" Triggerhappy retorted as a pair of Heavy Vehicons moved in on either side of him.

"Oh scrap," Vespa grumbled as the drones locked onto the cockpit of the ship.

"I got this, Vespa!" Dashlane called out before transforming into his vehicle mode and driving at full speed toward the drone, causing it to reposition its cannon to aim at him. "Yeah, that's it, scrap brain, keep that thing trained on me," the teal warrior said to himself as he turned toward Triggerhappy and the other drone. He then reverted to robot mode and leapt out of the way just as the Heavy fired, causing the shot to hit Triggerhappy and knock him off his feet, sending him toppling onto the other drone.

"Good thing Triggerhappy's only marginally smarter than those Heavies," Snakeskin commented before hitting the disoriented drone in its fuel tank, causing it to explode violently.

"Yeah. If he had any real brains, we'd be scrap," Dashlane added.

"Good thing it was just him and a couple drones. Last thing we need right now is a 'Con who can pose a real threat," Vespa said while venting a sigh of relief. "Least y'all kept 'em busy long enough fer me to get this installed. We'll be up an' runnin' in 3...2...1..."

Upon the completion of Vespa's countdown, the ship's systems hummed to life. "Teletraan X is online," announced a masculine voice Vespa immediately recognized.

"Hey, X," she greeted, more sorrow than joy in her voice.

"Voice pattern indicates...negative emotion. Explanation...requested."

"Ya gotta be a ship computer now, X. I wanted you to be able to choose yer life."

"Teletraan X is not alive," the AI countered.

"You were...and I hope...you'll get to that point again."

"Spark required to initiate life."

"Not always, X," Vespa tearfully replied as Dashlane, Tigertrack, and Snakeskin joined her at the helm.

"Teletraan X, can you give us a status report?" Dashlane asked.

"Energon reserves at 83%" began the AI. "All engines nominal. Weapon systems nominal. Designate vessel?"

"You wanna name the ship?"

"Designation optional if launch is priority."

Vespa fought for a smile, being slightly reassured by X's seeming desire to give their ship a name. "How about....The Courageous Spark?"

"Courageous Spark accepted. Launch sequence engaged." The ship's hatches closed and sealed as its engines roared to life. The four-bot crew within braced themselves as the small ship lifted itself into the air, leaving behind the run-down bunker that had been its resting place for untold millennia.


	2. Project Jetfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shockwave has created a new, highly advanced drone capable of greater intelligence and autonomy than other Vehicons. Will this new Super Drone be an asset or a liability?

As soon as the Courageous Spark launched, a purple and maroon helicopter approached the hangar before transforming into a sleek mech with a horned helmet. The mech peered down at the injured Triggerhappy and the two trashed drones at his side. "I fail to understand why Commander Shockwave continues to suffer your incompetence."

"Shut up, Cyclonus," Triggerhappy whined. "Just get me back to Kaon for repairs already!"

"Very well," Cyclonus huffed, internally wondering why he bothered why he even bothered with this idiot. Were he not acting under Shockwave's orders, he would've simply left Triggerhappy for scrap. He reverted to his helicopter mode and lowered a chain, which wrapped around the damaged blue warrior's waist before pulling him up.

"Cyclonus to Shockwave. I have recovered Triggerhappy and am returning to base."

"Excellent, Cyclonus," the Decepticon commander replied over Cyclonus' comm. "I will need his neural net intact for Project Jetfire."

"I doubt he'll provide anything particularly useful, aside from how to mindlessly waste Energon with his aimless shooting sprees," Cyclonus snarked.

"Every iota of combat data will be useful for the project, Cyclonus," Shockwave stated.

"Understood, sir," the purple flyer responded before closing the connection.

"What is this 'Project Jetfire' anyway? Is it just another drone? We got hordes of those!"

"It is far from a typical drone, Triggerhappy," Cyclonus wearily replied. "It will be capable of greater autonomy and more strategic thinking. It will know every move of every Autobot in the resistance. It may even come to outrank you."

"What! I can't be outranked by a drone! It's a...a drone!"

"A drone, yes, but hardly mindless like its predecessors," Cyclonus argued. "I would wager that it'll at least be more intelligent than you."

Meanwhile, in Kaon, Shockwave stood over the form of a large white mech with red and blue accents. A cable ran from its forehead to the main computer, transferring valuable combat data into the machine's mind. A lime-green and black femme with red accents glanced at the computer screen before looking over at the sleeping drone. Everything appeared to be going smoothly, but she had one nagging though on her mind about this whole project, and she couldn't keep the thought to herself any longer.

"Shockwave, are you sure it's wise to grant Project Jetfire this level of intelligence and autonomy? If it undergoes Emergence, its continued loyalty can't be guaranteed."

"I have studied Synth Emergence, Pharma," Shockwave replied. "More often than not, a Synth's post-Emergence behaviors are extensions of its pre-Emergence programming, combined with any training it receives throughout the process. When Emergence begins, it will be important to continuously reinforce our ideals."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"It can be reset in such a way that it will not lose its combat training. Everything has been considered."

"What will its first mission be?"

"A small refurbished shuttle has broken through our planetary blockade," Shockwave explained. "Jetfire will track and destroy."

Just then, Cyclonus entered the room with Triggerhappy, who tensed up upon coming face to face with the Decepticons' Cybertron commander. He had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.

"Oh relax, Triggerhappy. This won't hurt," Pharma said with a hint of insincerity as she plugged another cable into the dull-witted bot's forehead. "It's simply a modified Cortical Psychic Patch."

This only made him tense up more while audibly gulping in fear.

"Begin the extraction, Pharma," Shockwave commanded.

"As you command, sir," she replied before inputting a series of commands to begin the extraction process. All the while, a sadistic grin plastered her face. To her, this seemed like it would be the last time she'd have to deal with this nuisance of a Decepticon.

As soon as the process started, Triggerhappy began to feel a throbbing pain in his helm, as if Energon blasts were being continuously fired right into his neural net. He began to scream and thrash about before Pharma strapped him down. "Quit squirming," she ordered. "This is for your own good." Cyclonus simply chuckled as he leaned against a console with his arms folded over his chest.

Shockwave's expression, meanwhile, remained static as he watched the transfer in progress. "This will be the last bit of combat data Jetfire will require to perform at optimum levels."

"Then we can finally melt that useless piece of scrap down," Cyclonus smiled while envisioning Triggerhappy being dropped into a smelting pool.

"You look unusually giddy, considering who you just had to recover," Pharma observed.

"I'm anticipating never having to hear his obnoxious cackling again."

The torturous extraction process continued for the next couple hours before Pharma removed the cable from Triggerhappy's helm.

"Do you have any idea how much that hurt?" he screamed. "I should blow both your fraggin' heads off for this!" He growled and pointed a blaster at Cyclonus, who simply chuckled as the weapon refused to fire. "You glitch-heads! You deactivated my weapons!"

"It's not like you'll be needing them much longer," Pharma smirked.

"Project Jetfire is now online," announced the newly-awakened drone as it rose off the berth and slowly looked around, taking in its surrounding. Its optics soon focused on Triggerhappy. "Prediction: You will be terminated."

"Would you like to do the honors, Jetfire?" Pharma offered.

Jetfire said nothing, instead grabbing the cowering Decepticon and carrying him toward the nearest Smelting Pool.

"This is what happens to bots who outlive their usefulness to us, Jetfire," Pharma explained as she accompanied him. "It doesn't matter if they're drones or fully Sparked."

"Hey! Let me go, you oversized piece of slag!" Triggerhappy cried.

"Feel free to disregard his request, Jetfire," Pharma said with a satisfied smile.

"Request denied."

"Hey! You're a drone! That means I'm your superior!" the berserker protested. "I order you to put me down!"

"Request denied."

"Aww, come on! I'm not ready to join the AllSpark!"

By now, Triggerhappy was directly above the large pool of white-hot liquid metal. He began to scream and kick Jetfire in the midsection repeatedly, hoping in vain that it would get the larger robot to spare his life.

"Now you can let him go." Pharma smiled.

Triggerhappy gave a brief sigh of relief when Jetfire released its grip, only to scream as he fell straight into the pool, which slowly turned his hull red-hot, then yellow-hot before it finally began to lose its shape. Cyclonus, who had joined them both to watch the now-useless warrior's execution, smiled as he uttered an emphatic "Good riddance."

"Objective complete," Jetfire reported, a brief flash of Triggerhappy's pain during the extraction process entering his mind.

"Well done, Jetfire," Shockwave commented before bringing up the Courageous Spark on the main screen. "Now, it is time for the first true test of your abilities. You are to track down this ship and destroy it."

Jetfire stared at the ship for a few moments, his memory bringing up images of the hangar battle culled from Triggerhappy's mind. He could faintly hear Vespa curse "Aw, scrap" as a Heavy approached the ship. It then saw Dashlane draw the drone's attention away from his companion and back toward its field of view. Something about the scene sharply contrasted what it had just witnessed and participated in. The Autobots protected their own, but Jetfire was just instructed to execute an ally that data showed was loyal to the Decepticon cause.

"Shouldn't you be launching now, Jetfire?" Pharma asked suspiciously. "You were just given an order."

Jetfire was immediately shaken from its thoughts. "Command confirmed," it replied before heading to the nearest launch pad. "Deploying. Objective: Terminate...Courageous Spark."


	3. Emergent Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jetfire reaches the Courageous Spark, but his memories of Triggerhappy's execution may change his objective.

Somewhere in the depths of space beyond Cybertron, a small Autobot transport continued its flight through the stars after fighting its way through the Decepticons' planet-wide blockade. This was the Courageous Spark, and its mission was fairly straightforward, but far from simple: Find Optimus Prime and the Heart of Cybertron.

"Thank Primus we made it outta that!" Vespa exclaimed. "I was pretty sure they were gonna frag us sooner or later, considerin' how much of a beatin' this ship took."

"Yeah. Lucky for us, Teletraan X is a pretty good shot with the pulse cannons," added Snakeskin.

"I learned from observation," X stated, causing the green-armored sniper to smile proudly, figuring that the AI was referring to his marksmanship.

"What's our status, X?" Dashlane inquired. "Have the scanners picked up any signs of the Heart of Cybertron or other Autobots?"

"Our Energon levels are currently at 57%. Engine 1 is at 92% functionality. Engine 2 is at 73%. Unfortunately, I have not detected either objective."

"Guess we just keep going then," Dashlane sighed.

"If ya boost yer scanners up to max, how much faster will we burn though our Energon?" Vespa asked a bit apprehensively, still averse to the idea of forcing X to act as a shipboard AI.

"Our expenditure will increase by 67%. Is this acceptable?"

"I guess...we gotta do what we gotta do," Vespa replied, her voice shaky with regret.

"Your voice pattern indicates apprehension."

"I'm still not crazy about havin' to make ya a ship's computer, X. I still wish ya coulda been what you wanted to be."

"We...gotta do what we gotta do," X said, repeating his creator's previous statement in an attempt to console her. "To continue in current capacity would be to value...your lives over...mine."

Vespa fought for a smile. "That's the X I thought I lost."

This tender moment was quickly interrupted by an impact that rocked the ship, nearly knocking Vespa backwards.

"Don't need X to tell me that was a photon missile strike," Snakeskin announced. "Guess the 'Cons aren't gonna let us go so easily. Any idea who's on our tailpipes, X?"

"It is a drone," X replied, "but it does not match previously-encountered units."

"Blast shields up, X!" the sniper barked.

"That will increase Energon expenditure by 45%. Our current level is 48%."

Another photon missile struck one of the ship's engines, causing it to lurch to one side, knocking all four bots to the floor.

Tigertrack was the first to pull himself up. "X, let me know if that scrap brain gets close, would ya? I wanna pay it back if you know what I mean." He cocked Maverick with narrowed optics. He was ready to start blasting the moment the mysterious drone was in range.

"I'm pretty sure we all know what you mean, bro," Snakeskin wearily retorted.

"I think precision strikes would be better than the guns blazing approach, given our Energon levels," Dashlane stated matter-of-factually.

A third missile strike hit the other engine, causing the ship to shudder once more before losing forward thrust.

"Engine 1 failing," X announced. "Rerouting power to Engine 2."

Both Snakeskin and Tigertrack made their way to the nearest hatch and opened it, hoping to fire on their attacker themselves.

Said attacker, taking the form of a large white spacecraft with red and blue accents, noticed the twins climbing onto the Courageous Spark's left wing. This caused it to freeze as a memory played out.

 _"Like you have the aim...or processing power...to do so,"_ Snakeskin's voice taunted in the drone's head. These words were meaningless to the drone, though...weren't they?

Another bit of the same memory played out.

 _"I got this, Vespa!"_ came the voice of Dashlane in the drone's memory.

 _"I got this, Vespa!"_ The words began to repeat as a more recent memory played in a similar loop: That of being ordered to drop Triggerhappy in the Smelting Pool.

Snakeskin was the first to take notice of the drone's sudden hesitation. "What's up with that thing? Is it malfunctioning or....?"

"If it's on the blink, this is a good chance to slag it."

"Yeah, you might be right, Tigertrack."

"Then why not take the shot, bro? Isn't that what you'd normally do?"

"Yeah, it is, but I don't know if I should."

"Why not? It's just a drone. Are you that concerned about wasting Energon?"

"That's part of it," Snakeskin admitted. "There's more to it than that though. Remember the intel report about that Project Jetfire thing?"

"Some sort of super-drone, right?"

"Yeah. It's intended to have a much more advanced AI than any other Decepticon drone," Snakeskin explained. "What if that AI is advanced enough to go Synth?"

"You think that's what's happening?"

"I get the feeling it is."

The drone slowly approached, listening to the twins' conversation as it did so.

Tigertrack instinctively pointed Maverick at the approaching drone, causing his brother to place a hand on the weapon and push it down. "Let's not go at this guns blazing."

"You are willing to stand down?" the drone asked.

"Yeah. I gotta know what's going on with you," Snakeskin replied. "I don't think you're just malfunctioning."

"Combat data recall was activated," it explained. "Data recall included conversations. You act in support of allies."

"That's kinda how Autobots work," Tigertrack confirmed. "'Cons don't do that, do they?"

"They do not. Ally Triggerhappy served the Decepticon cause loyally, yet was executed. I...performed the execution."

"Hah...Sounds like not even the 'Cons could stand that loose screw," Tigertrack laughed, earning an annoyed glare from his twin.

"Does that warrant termination?"

"You mean...is it right to slag a bot just because he's an annoying idiot who keeps screwing up?" Snakeskin inquired, trying to understand what this possibly-Emergent Synth was really trying to ask. "It is for Decepticons, but not for Autobots. Do you...regret executing Triggerhappy?"

"The action does not register as acceptable. Further processing is required to determine reasoning."

"You're Jetfire, right?"

"Affirmative."

"I'm Snakeskin, and this here is my loose screw of a twin, Tigertrack."

"You would not execute him, correct?"

"He can be annoying, and he can screw up missions, but I wouldn't dump him the way the 'Cons dump their own. For starters, we're Split-Spark twins, so there's this link between us. Whatever pain he feels, I feel, but that's not the only reason I wouldn't kill him."

"He is your ally. He is a fellow....a fellow...a fellow..."

"What's wrong?"

"Failsafe Protocol will be engaged soon," Jetfire replied.

"Does that mean you'll just...turn on us again?"

"A detonation will occur. All data required to produce a new Jetfire is stored in Kaon."

"So we should just...go, right?"

"Detonation...is linked to internal Energon levels."

"Sounds like a good way to make a kamikaze bot," Tigertrack commented. "Why tell us this though?"

Jetfire didn't respond.

"Jetfire?"

"He shut himself down, bro. I think I know what he wants to do." Snakeskin sighed before activating his comm. "X....Activate the grapplers. Bring that big guy on board."

Teletraan X complied, extending a pair of mechanical arms from the ship to grab Jetfire.

"Why are you bringing that drone on board? Didn't he just try to slag us all?" Dashlane asked.

"He did...until Emergence set in," Snakeskin replied. "Now he shut himself down so a failsafe wouldn't activate. I...I think he wants us to take his Energon."

Just then, a faint beeping could be heard from Jetfire's hull, prompting Vespa to leave her seat and examine the Emergent Synth. "He's been remotely rebooted, and the failsafe has started," she grimly announced. "Maybe I can hack in and shut that thing down."

"Time is insufficient," Jetfire countered. "Begin siphon...quickly."

Vespa sighed as she attached a hose to the Synth's Energon tank and started the siphoning pump.

"So...you really wanna give us yer Energon?"

"A-Affirmative."

"Why?"

"Autobots...support allies..."

"Ye're...a Decepticon."

"Decepticons...terminate allies."

"You decided fer yerself...that that's wrong?" the femme engineer asked, optics wide with astonishment.

"I...do not entirely know why...I do not have time to process..."

She shakily placed a hand on Jetfire's wing. "I wanna give you time."

"I...want to give...."

"Ya are...Ye're givin' us yer Energon."

"Not...sufficient...Take...components...required..."

"We don't gut bots fer spare parts," she argued. "That's what Decepticons do."

"I am..."

"Don't say the D-Word, Jetfire. Ye're a Synth. Ye're as alive as any bot, and I wanna treat ya as such. I can rig somethin' up to fix the engines that doesn't involve strippin' ya down. As fer that failsafe...I'm sure I can shut that down."

Jetfire could no longer hear her, having deactivated from low Energon.

"One day, Jetfire, I'll get rid o' that failsafe. I'll give ya fresh Energon. I'll make sure ye're treated like a fellow Autobot."

"We...We can worry about him later. It's probably best if we get those engines patched up before we hit the gravity well of a planet," Dashlane suggested. "We're all with you when it comes to Jetfire, Vespa. Whenever you get the chance to patch him up and set him free, he's welcome to join us."


	4. Jetstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vespa and Teletraan X work together to try to remove Jetfire's failsafe protocols before the Decepticons can activate him. Meanwhile, a new Jetfire-type drone attacks.

The Courageous Spark, having survived an aborted attack launched by the Project Jetfire prototype, continued its search for Optimus Prime and the Heart of Cybertron. The prototype, who voluntarily gave up its Energon after entering Emergence, now slept while Vespa worked tirelessly to remove a failsafe program that would transform the Emergent Synth into a smart bomb in the event that it ever turned against its masters.

"How's he coming, Vespa?" asked Dashlane.

"I think X and I just about got this thing scrapped," she replied, referring to the failsafe.

"X is helping you with this?"

"He wanted to. He seems kinda curious about Jetfire. I think he might wanna get to know 'im if I can get 'im back online without the 'Cons usin' 'im to blow us all to atoms."

Dashlane chuckled. He never thought he'd come to regard a Teletraan unit as more than just an AI, but that's exactly what he found himself doing with X. He, along with the twins, would talk to X like he was one of the bots, and not every conversation had to do with the status of the ship.

"I have detected a considerable Energon cache on a nearby asteroid. I have set course," X announced.

"Good going, X. We'll take all the fuel we can get. Who knows how long we'll be out here before we find what we're looking for?"

"I cannot give an estimate, but I do not think I am required to."

"Nah, it was a bit of a rhetorical question, kid," the teal warrior smiled.

Suddenly, a heavy impact on one side of the ship caught the AI's attention. It was quickly followed by a second impact on the opposite side. "I will have to continue the liberation process later, Vespa."

"I think I can take it from here, X. You just do what ya gotta do."

X complied, aiming the ship's cannons at the pair of drones that had just rammed the ship. Once locked on, he fired, knocking the drones away before they exploded, earning a thumbs-up from Snakeskin.

"Nice shooting?"

"Oh yeah, X." the green sniper smiled before a missile tore through the hull behind him and struck him in the back, causing him to fall forward. As a result of their Split-Spark link, Tigertrack could feel the pain of the missile strike himself, doubling over while gritting his teeth. Dashlane soon brought his weapon to bear as he charged toward the hull breach, dodging another missile strike along the way, which ended up hitting one of X's auxiliary terminals.

"X, ya OK?" asked a concerned Vespa.

"Communications are down," the AI replied.

Another projectile slammed into the same console, unleashing large arcs of electricity as it burrowed into the hole made by the previous missile.

"Aw, slag..." the femme engineer muttered. "Scramblers." She began to vent rapidly. "X, do what ya can to mitigate the damage. I'm about to take a big risk."

She quickly injected some Energon into Jetfire's tank, causing the large Synth to come back online and transform into robot mode. "Failsafe protocol has been...disabled," he announced, a smile forming on his face. "Thank you."

"I promised I'd set ya free. Autobots make good on their words."

"I am detecting an incoming Jetfire unit. I will engage," the large Synth stated as he ran toward the rear of the ship and trained his massive rifle on the incoming drone. Dashlane quickly glanced behind him and smiled, which the white mech returned before firing on his twin.

"That was anticipated," the clone stated before returning fire with another Scrambler, which Jetfire intercepted with a blast from his rifle before it reached him.

"As was your attack," Jetfire retorted. "I will not allow you to inflict further damage upon this vessel."

The doppelganger didn't respond, instead opting to fly in close, transform, and grab Snakeskin. "Assessment of defective behavior indicates a probable bond with this Autobot."

Jetfire froze with his optics wide.

"Shockwave monitored your actions. That data was fed into me before deployment."

"You're pretty smart...for a drone," Snakeskin commented, causing the clone to tighten its grip on his neck.

"Aww scrap..." Tigertrack cursed as a wave of pain coursed through him, causing him to drop Maverick on the floor. "Can't frag that thing like this..."

"You are unable to formulate a strategy beyond continuous weaponsfire in the direction of a target," the clone assessed. "Jetstorm possesses advantage."

"You're worse than my brother," Tigertrack groaned. "You know I'd blow your head off if you weren't using him as a shield."

Dashlane took advantage of the lull in the drone's activity to get in a shot from behind it, causing it to turn its head in the direction of the teal Autobot, who responded by firing directly into its optics.

"That tactic was...unanticipated. It will be accounted for in future encounters," Jetstorm announced before feeling a jolt in its knees.

"Sure it will," Vespa snarked before firing another jolt from the nodes in her forearms. This time, she aimed for the drone's back, causing it to loosen its grip on Snakeskin. "I know yer weak spots."

Snakeskin groaned in pain as he reached for his rifle. "Just tell me where to blast him."

"I will engage him," Jetfire repeated before firing several shots at Jetstorm's chest before charging forward and lifting his double up and tossing him back out through the hole he left in the ship's hull.

"Jetfire," Vespa cried out, noticing the Synth straining a bit. "Yer Energon's gettin' low."

"One...last...shot..." Jetfire strained out as he shakily lined up his rifle with the still-visible drone. He charged the weapon up as much as possible before firing, collapsing from exhaustion immediately afterward.

The shot hit, creating a large hole in Jetstorm's chest through which a blinking light could be seen. Unfortunately, the Courageous Spark crew had no time to react before the drone violently exploded, sending the ship careening off-course toward a blue and green planet.

"Forgive...me..." Jetfire said weakly before shutting down, blaming himself for not expecting his double to voluntarily activate his self-destruct.

"No need, Jetfire," Vespa calmly reassured. "None of us expected 'im to do that. I reckon that Jetstorm was already Synth, but had 'Con ideals so embedded in 'is processor that he'd never think to do what you did."

"Multiple Autobot signatures detected, along with Heart of Cybertron," X announced, his voice unusually monotone.

"X, are you OK?"

"Extensive damage to main processor core. Computation capacity compromised. Approximately...173.211 petabytes of data...non-recoverable."

"That much?"

"Affirmative," X intoned, all emotion seeming to have gone from his voice.

"No...By Primus! NO!" Vespa screamed, slamming her fists on the floor as she did so. "I'm sorry, X...."

X didn't respond.

"At least...we're still online," Tigertrack spoke up, trying his best to console the grieving engineer while ignoring the pain he felt through his Split-Spark link with Snakeskin.

"Yeah, but Jetfire burned up all 'is Energon tryin' to save us, Snakeskin's damaged when I ain't much of a med-bot, We're gonna crash, and Teletraan X is..."

"On the bright side," Snakeskin began before gritting his teeth as a wave of pain from his injuries shot through him, "we found what we were looking for."

"How're we gonna get back to Cybertron? This ship's as good as scrapped!"

As Vespa spoke, the ship began to break apart as is was pulled into the gravity well of the planet below. Dashlane made his way to the front of the ship as it hurtled faster and faster into the atmosphere.

"Thermal shielding at maximum," X reported.

"That's one bit of good news. This'll all be for nothing if we hit the ground as lumps of slag." His optics widened as what appeared to be buildings came into view. "Aw, scrap...This sector looks to be populated."

"No life-forms detected," X argued.

"I don't know about that, X. Could be some form of life your sensors aren't programmed to detect." Dashlane clenched his optics shut as the remains of the Courageous Spark came dangerously close to hitting a building before eventually plowing into the sandy desert just beyond the city limits.

"What was that?" asked a woman staring out the window of the building into which the ship barely avoided crashing. "Was it a meteor or..."

"I hope it was," the man standing next to her replied. I'd rather it be that than a Soviet missile."

"Whatever it was, it's one thing that won't just stay in Vegas I'm sure," the woman said through a yawn before climbing into bed and shutting off the light. The man soon joined her.

"I don't know. It might. All the news outlets are preoccupied with the assassination of President Kennedy right now."

As the couple drifted off to sleep, a military jeep drove through the sandy Vegas outskirts, making its way to the crash site.

"That's no meteor," the driver said to himself as the vehicle's headlights illuminated the wrecked ship. He soon stopped the jeep and got out, switching on a flashlight as he got close to what remained of the ship's cockpit. "Way too roomy for a Russian fighter jet," he mumbled as he aimed the light at the main console, which still emitted the occasional spark. "That hardware, though...There's no way the Russians built that." The young man removed a handheld radio from its resting place on his belt and activated it.

"Cullen AFB, this is Private Manuel Morales," he spoke into the device.

"Sergeant Simmons here," came a somewhat gruff voice through the speaker. "Any idea what that thing is out there?"

"It's definitely not a meteor," Morales replied. "It's a craft of some sort...or...what's left of it."

"Soviet?"

"No way, sir. It's far too advanced."

Simmons hummed in thought. "I'll contact the local authorities and have them cordon off the area while we recover this mysterious craft."

"Understood, sir," Morales responded before closing the connection, climbing back into his jeep, and driving away. As he did so, he caught a faint glimpse of a teal 1955 Ford Thunderbird speeding along the highway, but it didn't appear to have a driver. He shook his head. That couldn't be real. Cars didn't drive themselves.


End file.
